Ellie
"After everything we've been through... everything I've done... it can't be for nothing." ― Ellie when Joel suggests to turn around instead of continuing to look for Will Ellie is a major character in The Walking Dead: New Hope. A twenty-one-year-old survivor, Ellie is "mature beyond her years" as a result of the circumstances of her environment. Biography Background and Early Life Ellie was born a few months after the outbreak of the fungal pandemic. As a result, she grew up in an oppressive military Quarantine Zone in Boston, Massachusetts, with little knowledge of the world before infection. Before she left her, Ellie's mother, Anna, asked Marlene to watch Ellie. However, Ellie never really met Marlene until she was 13 years old. After a run-in with the infected in an abandoned mall, Ellie finds out that she is immune. Escape from Boston Around the time Marlene and Ellie planned to leave Boston for Salt Lake City. Marlene is injured during her search for the smuggler Robert, a man she had initially hired to escort Ellie out of Boston. Desperate to get her out of the city, Marlene hires two well known, feared, and experienced smugglers, Joel and Tess, to escort Ellie out of the city before the military wipes out the Fireflies. She arranges for a small team of Fireflies to meet the three at the Capitol building. Although Ellie insists she's staying with Marlene, the Firefly refuses, hoping that Joel will live up to Tommy's recommendation. While Tess goes with Marlene to verify the weapons Marlene has promised the pair, Ellie is taken by Joel to an apartment close to the outer wall. While making their way there, Joel asks where her parents are and why Marlene is so fixated on her, among other things. Ellie avoids answering why she is being smuggled but does inform Joel that her parents died and that's she's 14. Once at the apartment, having avoided the military patrolling to see if anyone is out after curfew, they wait for Tess to arrive. By nightfall, she arrives, the trio deciding to commit and embarking outside the Zone. The trio soon leave the zone, Ellie is in disbelief that she's "actually outside". Her joy is cut short when she and the others are captured by a military patrol. The soldiers check them for traces of infection, causing Ellie to panic and stab one of the soldiers. The man knocks her down, preparing to shoot but Joel tackles the man and kills him, saving Ellie's life. With the soldiers dealt with, Joel and Tess find that Ellie is infected, but are forced to bring Ellie along when another patrol approaches. Avoiding the soldiers as they search for them, the trio manages to escape, taking a brief rest. There, Ellie reveals that the Fireflies have "their own little research lab out West", causing Joel to chuckle at the thought of such a thing. Ellie is angered by him but he ignores her as he asks Tess what they should do next. However, Tess actually believes what Ellie claims, desiring to deliver her as requested. Ellie watches as the two briefly argue before following them towards the outskirts. After a night of facing Infected, the three are almost at their destination. After crossing plank to reach another building, Ellie is taken aback by the view, her child-like wonder briefly reminding Joel of Sarah. They reach the rendezvous point in the Capitol Building, but they find only bodies of Fireflies and the military closing in. Revealing that she has been infected, Tess insists that Ellie and Joel continue on their own while she buys them some time. Ellie feels guilty about this, but Joel ignores her comments about the issue. The two later reach a town where Joel believes they can meet Bill, a mechanic who owes Joel a favor and can provide them with a car. Ellie reveals during their journey to and through Lincoln that she has never been in the woods until that day nor has she seen real fireflies. She learns that Joel has also never been to Lincoln, making finding Bill difficult. When Joel gets stuck in one of Bill's traps, Ellie works to free him from, avoiding the approaching Infected and providing Joel with ammunition to cover her. Once Joel is free, a masked man arrives, saving the pair from the approaching Infected and escorts them to a safe house. Once there, Ellie thanks the man and tries to shake hands. However, the man is irritated by their presence. Having disabled many of his traps and alerting an overwhelming swarm of the Infected to their presence in the process, Bill subdues both of them, fearful that they have been bitten. While Bill checks Joel, Ellie manages to break free of her restraints and beats Bill with a pipe, but Joel quickly gets up and stops Ellie from causing further harm. After a brief argument, Joel asks Bill for a car. Bill agrees to put together a car for the two, but tells them that once it is done, he owes Joel no more favors. Joel agrees to his terms, using the given keys to unlock Ellie from the handcuffs. They head towards a church which Bill has converted in to an armory. As Bill and Joel converse while loading shotguns, Ellie investigates a pile of comics and magazines on a shelf. She secretly takes two of them, a pornography magazine and a Savage Starlight comic book. While putting them away, she is caught by Bill who proceeds to shout at her. Ellie tries to defend herself, lying that she was "just fixing Bill's stupid pile". In response to the man's ranting, she replies with an obscene gesture, much to Bill's anger. He turns to Joel, stating she will get him killed. As the pair go to leave, Bill threatens her, but she slyly says she "doesn't need any of his shit". Ellie and Joel learn that they have to reach the local high school, as a military vehicle crashed there a while ago, with a new battery still inside. They leave the church, Ellie noticing a pile of burnt cadavers. Joel tries to dissuade her from staring but she claims she has "seen worse". While making their way through a block full of Infected, Ellie proves to be useful when she can fit through small gaps in doors and over railings. Bill even remarks that "maybe they should have given her a gun". When they do reach the school, they find the battery in the truck is gone. With no other options, they fight their way out the back of the school, having to kill the strongest of the Infected - a Bloater - to do so. The three make it to a house. While Joel and Bill bicker, Ellie finds a seemingly operational truck in Frank's garage. She is rudely ordered out by Bill, who checks to see if it is working, finding the battery drained but the cells alive. He and Joel proceed to kill several Infected on the street but manage to make it to the top of a hill, where Ellie finally starts the truck. Hopping in the back, the pair signal Ellie to keep driving, since more Infected are on the way. They safely make it back to Bill's church. Bill makes Ellie stop the truck and goes to leave, Joel getting out to say goodbye. Both briefly remark that Ellie held her own against the Infected, but Bill still believes Joel will die soon. Before leaving, he gives Joel a siphon hose so he can obtain gas from abandoned cars. The pair drive on in the direction of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh During the start of the journey, Ellie spends her time in the back reading the Savage Starlight article she stole from Bill. Despite saying she isn't tired, she falls asleep during the journey. When she wakes up, she finds Joel has driven all the way to the blocked entrance to Pittsburgh. Joel detours into the city itself, but are ambushed by a pair of hunters. Although they crash, they manage to escape, but are shortly caught by another group of hunters. While Joel is forced to kill a couple of them, Ellie manages to shoot one in order to save Joel, the bandit having Joel's head underwater. Joel confronts her about the use of the pistol, stating that she shouldn't have done that. Ellie retorts, thinking that using the weapon had been her only choice. As they make their way through the city, Joel spies a machine gun wielding truck being used by the hostile survivors to kill "tourists", the hunters word for unknown survivors. The two bond as Joel answers Ellie's questions regarding life before the disease destroyed the world. One question in particular, regarding a Dawn of the Wolf poster, causes to reveal he saw the "dumb teen movie" right before the outbreak. Wanting to know why, Ellie asks such but he dodges the question, claiming he can't remember, wanting to avoid telling Ellie he once had a daughter. To "lighten the mood", Ellie's reveal a jokebook she possesses, quoting several jokes from it as they go to take their minds off of the dangers in the world, if all too briefly. Ellie eventually becomes separated from Joel when the pair climb an elevator shaft, the elevator giving way, sending him plummeting to the bottom. Ellie, safe on the ledge, tries to climb down to Joel but he makes her stay put, wanting to make his own way to her. Becoming worried and impatient, Ellie makes her way through the hotel, going back down to try to find Joel. She does so, appearing at the last second to save Joel from being drowned by a hunter; shooting the hunter dead. She admits her sickness at having "shot the hell outta that guy". However, Joel tells her off for disobeying him, causing Ellie to shout at him, frustrated he won't at least thank her. Joel coldly ignores the question, wanting to press on. As they walk, Ellie tries to explain why she ignored his order but just gets more frustrated at Joel's response. They soon come to some abandoned scaffolding. Joel grabs a hunting rifle from the side, telling Ellie to stay behind cover. They see a group of hunters below, unaware of their presence. Ellie wants to help but still thinks Joel will not let her. To her chagrin, he does so, giving her the hunting rifle, testing to see if she "can handle that". Despite admitting she has only ever shot a rifle at rats, Joel trusts her with the job of covering him. He also thanks her for saving him, warming up to her. Ellie warms back, pleased Joel is start to bond with her.21 After they kill the hunters, Ellie both feeling impressive but sinister for having killed them, Joel finally feels Ellie has earned the right to carry a pistol, though he declares it is "for emergencies only". She admits she knows how to turn the safety off, ensuring Joel she will be "careful". Soon after, The pair encounter the Humvee in person when traversing through the streets, managing to out run it despite its heavy fire power. The two decide to enter a building via the balcony in order to get off the streets. While doing so, Joel is grappled from behind by what he presumes is another hunter Ellie watches as Joel overpowers him, quickly informing him a boy has a gunned trained on him. Joel subsequently ceases his assault. Once acquainted with the two, Henry and Sam, they agree to chat at their safehouse. Once there, Sam offers her blueberries, having found "a whole stash of them". She gladly accepts, and the the pair trying to toss blueberries into their mouths while doing so. By nighttime, she wakes Joel, the pair joining Henry and Sam on the way to the bridge. They make it to the bridge but, as she is pulled up by Henry over a container, the Humvee once again returns. She tries to get Henry to pull Joel up but the man panics, racing off with Sam. Although she could go with the brothers, she jumps back down to Joel; "we stick together." After barely dodging the Humvee's bullets, they come to a halt when they find the upper section of the bridge has fallen through. With the Humvee pounding against the vehicles blocking its path and Joel unable to discover a safe escape, Ellie takes matters into her own hands. Though she knows she can't swim, Ellie recklessly jumps off of the bridge, causing Joel to do likewise. Barely afloat in the water, she calls for Joel's help, her carer managing to grab her only to be knocked out when clashing against a large rock. Miraculously, Ellie survives, Henry returning to the two in time to save them. He carries them to the shore someway from the bridge, reuniting them with Sam. After a brief confrontation, the group begin towards the sewers to the radio tower. They escape the hunter area through the sewers and suburbs. The pair has slowly bonded with the brothers but this ended when Sam became infected and Henry commits suicide out of grief for killing his brother. Jackson County Joel and Ellie move on to Jackson County, where Joel believes his brother Tommy, a former member of the Fireflies, can show them their location. Just as the fall draws in, the two find Tommy in a dam providing electricity to a revived permanent community. During their stay, Ellie learns from Maria of Sarah, Joel's daughter who tragically died at the start of the outbreak. She also sensed that Joel planned to leave her with Tommy, leading her to run away to an abandoned ranch house. When Joel catches up to her, the two have a heated argument where it became obvious to both of them how much they have bonded and cared for each other during their travels. Joel eventually changes his mind and sticks back to accompany Ellie. With Tommy's direction, Joel and Ellie reach a university where the Fireflies are thought to reside. The Fireflies are, however, nowhere to be found, instead the two are met with a large group of both infected and cannibals. During a brutal fight, Joel is impaled in the abdomen and leaves the fighting to Ellie. Ellie manages to hide Joel in an abandoned mall, where she dresses his wound with her old shirt from the Summer and some duct tape she finds when rummaging in the drawers. She then decides it will buy her and Joel some time, and goes to find something to stitch up Joel's wound with while Callus keeps an eye on him. After climbing up a broken escalator, Ellie finds an abandoned store in the mall, Weston's Pharmacy. Ellie hopes to find medicine, but to her disappointment, it has been picked clean of any useful supplies. Heading to the checkout aisle, and finds a first-aid kit behind a locked door. From a note Ellie finds on the ground, she finds that the pharmacist "went crazy", and that one of the employees, unaware of the Cordyceps outbreak, locked him in an American Princess Store next door, and locked away the keys to the first aid kit as well. The note gives the combination to the American Princess Store, 35-30-31. Ellie finds the infected corpse, and removes his key, along with a picture of the man and his daughter in a photo booth. As Ellie leaves the store, she comes upon a lone Clicker, and quickly kills it with her switchblade. She unlocks the door and quickly opens the first aid kit, but is disappointed to find it is empty, its supplies stolen by other survivors. Ellie kicks it out of frustration, but her disappointment quickly turns into excitement when she finds a crashed military helicopter, convinced it will have something she can use to stitch up Joel's wound. Puzzled on how to get up there, she finds a gate, but it is locked, and the button used to unlock the gate has no power to it. She finds cables, and remembers Joel's advice to follow them. She attempts to start the generator, but finds it is out of gasoline. Ellie finds an empty gas can in a flooded parking garage, and after killing some Stalkers, fills it up from gas taken from a truck. Ellie refuels the generator, and manages to get the electricity running. Two more Stalkers come running in knee-deep water, but a power line falls into the water, electrocuting the Stalkers in the process. Ellie has to find her way to the other side of the parking garage without touching the water, or she'll "get fried to a crisp." Ellie, after encountering and killing more Infected, makes it back to the gate. She jumps onto the helicopter, and is relieved to find medicine, embracing the med kit, stating that she's not going to let Joel go. She makes her way back after being ambushed by Cannibals and Infected multiple times, having to quickly distract some when they find the place where Ellie hid Joel and Callus. After killing the Cannibals and The Infected, she makes her way to Joel, who is still alive. After telling him she's an "expert-ish" at sewing wounds, she manages to sew up his wound. She then ties him to a blanket on a sled, and then ties the sled to Callus, and starts to ride him. She eventually gets them both to the Lakeside Resort. There, Ellie hides Joel in a house to take care of him, while also going outside to hunt for food. Winter Ellie first encountered David when she was hunting a deer during the winter. She was immediately cautious around him and his friend James. David offers to exchange supplies for a share of the meat from the deer that Ellie had tracked and killed. Ellie demanded antibiotics in return, threatening them with a bow and arrow if they tried anything. James left to get antibiotics at the group's settlement and reluctantly left David alone with Ellie. David and Ellie then took refuge from the cold weather and David asked for Ellie's name. Despite his help in giving the medicine, she doesn't reveal her name. Infected soon attacked their shelter. David helped Ellie fight them off and complimented her skill with a rifle. As they worked their way through the nearby buildings, fighting off several waves of Infected, Ellie's attitude toward him softens slightly. After completely clearing out the buildings, he and Ellie return to their original refuge. He discusses the philosophy that everything happens for a reason, to which Ellie strongly disagrees. David decides to prove his theory by revealing that it was in fact his men who attacked Joel and Ellie at the university. A returning James overhears the conversation and holds Ellie at gunpoint, but David demands Ellie be given the medicine and set loose, and James reluctantly complies. Ellie returns to the nearby town she had taken refuge in. While there, she administers the medicine to Joel then goes to sleep. David, having let Ellie leave, has his men track her down. His men mention that they are under strict orders from David to keep her alive, but these orders were ignored when they found out from James that Joel slaughtered half of the raiders at the university. Ellie, riding Callus, attempts to get away from David's group and they begin tracking her which ultimately results in Callus getting shot and killed. While trying to flee on foot, Ellie makes her way through a lodge but David finds her in the dining hall and renders her unconsciousness. When Ellie regains consciousness in her holding cell, she witnesses James chopping up a corpse on a bench and discovers that David and his group are cannibals. Ellie is visibly disgusted and is hostile toward David. They argue and Ellie reluctantly eats the food that David gives her, claiming that it is venison, nothing more. David pleads with Ellie that he has her best interests in mind, and offers her a place in his group. He then affectionately touches Ellie's hand (he is implied to be a hebephile). Now realizing his intentions, Ellie breaks his finger and attempts to retrieve his keys, to which David responds by slamming her against the cell bars and threatening her life.33 The next day, David and James arrive and pin Ellie down onto the table attempting to slaughter her for food. Just before David strikes her, Ellie exclaims she is infected and states that David is infected too because she bit him before she was thrust upon the table. David at first is skeptical, but Ellie insists that he should roll up her right sleeve to show him her bite wound. Upon finding out from Ellie that she is infected, James becomes frightened and disgusted but David claims it must not be real because she would have turned sooner. James weakens his grip on Ellie's left hand and David begins to observe his bite from Ellie. Ellie takes this chance to grab a butcher knife with her left hand and strikes it towards James' throat, killing him. James' death infuriates David, where he retaliates by firing at Ellie with his gun, missing every shot.34 Ellie escapes from the room as David grows increasingly frustrated and proceeds to hunt her down again, asking her where she is going and boasting "This is my town" in a demented tone. David eventually finds Ellie at a decayed restaurant, struggling with her as she attempts to escape from his people out the back door and commenting that she is easy to track. He holds her at gunpoint after throwing her to the ground, asking her how she managed to escape alive. He is momentarily distracted by the building being lit on fire by a lantern knocked over during their struggle. As the restaurant slowly goes up in flames, he locks the exit and taunts Ellie, telling her that she has nowhere to go and would need to take the keys from him if she wanted to leave. David proceeded to stalk her throughout the restaurant, taunting her creepily and expressing his disappointment that she did not accept his offer to join the group. Ellie simply expresses more of her disgust at David and his obvious insanity as she hides behind the dining booths attempting to take the keys from him by subduing him with sneak attacks. After Ellie stabs David from behind once with her switchblade, he throws her off and attempts to shoot her with his revolver, missing as she takes cover. He then draws a machete from a back sheath and continues to stalk her, attempting to shoot or slash her to death. He makes use of broken plates on the floor throughout the building to find Ellie if she steps on them. She manages to elude David and stabs him two more times, causing him to panic and bash her into a table behind him before grabbing her hair and throwing her to the floor. Despite being stabbed multiple times in the upper torso, David is still able to run and threaten Ellie. He and Ellie then black out beside each other. When they regain consciousness, David is the first to recover. He taunts a weaker Ellie as she crawls towards his machete underneath a cabinet, saying that it's okay to give up. At this time, he doesn't notice the machete he dropped is a short distance off. He strikes Ellie again and pins her down while grabbing her firmly by the throat and nearly strangles her to death. Ellie manages to reach the machete underneath the cabinet and slashes his arm. Gaining an advantage, Ellie proceeds to violently hack at David's head multiple times, when Joel suddenly arrives and pulls her away from his corpse, embracing and consoling her. Salt Lake City he spring arrives as Joel and Ellie reach Salt Lake City, the intended final destination. Ellie has now turned fifteen years old. During the first half of the trip, Ellie is still shaken by the events from Winter, remaining distracted and quiet. Joel, after sharing a heartfelt moment with Ellie, tells her they can turn back now and return to Tommy's. Ellie thanks Joel, but declines, explaining that after everything that they've been through, it has to be worth something. While encountering multiple Infected in an abandoned tunnel, Joel is trapped in a submerged bus. Ellie tries to help him, but is unsuccessful and almost drowns. While Joel is preforming CPR to save Ellie, Fireflies arrive and, after demanding his surrender, they knock him unconscious. Ellie is revived and immediately taken to be studied on Marlene's order, which may grant the Fireflies the ability to reverse-engineer a vaccine to the lethal fungus. But in order to do so, the mutated Cordyceps must be extracted from Ellie's brain via surgery, killing her in the process. Joel is told this information by Marlene. He is immediately opposed and demands Marlene find someone else. Marlene refuses, reasoning that there is no one else and no other choice, and it has to be done to save humanity from extinction. She instructs the Firefly guard, Ethan, to escort Joel out of the hospital; If Joel were to resist, Ethan is granted permission to kill him. On the way out, Joel manages to kill him, and make his way through the facility, managing to save Ellie from the operating room. After fleeing the Fireflies by taking an elevator down to the parking garage, Joel is then confronted by Marlene, who attempts to intimidate Joel by coming up with terrible scenarios that could happen to Ellie, such as death by being torn to pieces by a pack of Clickers, sexual assault and/or murder committed by thugs. She then tries to reason with him, saying that "It's what she'd want, and you know it". Still unwilling to give Ellie up, Joel then shoots Marlene. Later on, Ellie eventually awakes inside Joel's car on the way out of Salt Lake City, wondering what happened during the time she wasn't conscious. Joel and Ellie finally reach Tommy's settlement, where Joel remarks that they can return to a somewhat normal life. Before that, Joel tells Ellie what happened with the Fireflies during the time she was unconscious. She appears depressed and seems to have survivor's guilt, so (to alleviate said guilt) Joel claims there were dozens of other immune people being studied by the Fireflies, and that it had done no good in helping to find a cure. Upon reaching the settlement Ellie tells Joel that on the day she was bitten, she was with a friend who also got bitten. She states that they promised to wait together until the end, and that she's still waiting to turn and join her friend. She asks Joel to "swear to me that everything that you said about the Fireflies is true." Joel replies, "I swear". Although she accepts this, it is left ambiguous as to whether or not Ellie believes him. One Night Alone After spending a few weeks or so at Tommy's and having been accepted by the community, Joel finishes his work for the day and searches for Ellie. He finds her listening to her Walkman in her room, writing something at her desk. He knocks on the door, calling Ellie's name but she can't hear him. After a few attempts he enters the room to tap her shoulder, startling her. Ellie stands up and waves him off, pulling off her headphones as Joel claims he "didn't mean to scare her". After a pause, he asks "What's up?" There is some tension in the air—Ellie possibly resenting Joel for having lied to her, though whether she knows for sure is unknown. Joel starts off slowly, saying that they haven't talked for a little while and he wanted to check in on her. He tells her that some kids found some water guns and were playing with them outside that day. He had hoped to have seen Ellie out there playing too. Ellie quickly responds by telling him that she's more needed repairing the outer wall with Maria and that she doesn't have time for that. Sitting down on the corner of the bed, Joel tells her that everyone has been really impressed with Ellie but that it's okay to take a break from work every once in a while. Joel realizes he isn't getting anywhere, and decides to change the subject. He talks about how Tommy has made him a town guard and that things have "calmed down out there somewhat." Tommy apparently has paired Joel up with a woman named Esther, with Joel confessing that he thinks Tommy wants to see them "hitched", remarking she has a "great sense of humor" and that she told him a joke. While Joel starts mumbling to himself, trying to remember the joke, Ellie interrupts. She mentions that it is late and that she needs to get going with the additional repairs needed for the outer wall. Joel is a bit deflated, but quickly recovers, leaving and quickly returning with a guitar in hand. "What's that supposed to be?" Ellie says, somewhat sarcastically. "Well I done hear that some people call this a gui-tar." Joel says, really pouring on his Texan accent, getting a quiet chuckle out of Ellie. "I know that," Ellie says and asks him again what it is for. Joel sits down on Ellie's bed and confesses that he has been working on a song for some time, though "started working on it sometime ago", hinting that he may have originally begun writing it for Sarah. Ellie sits in her swivel chair, drawing up one of her legs to her chest as Joel begins to play and sing select verses from Future Days by Pearl Jam. The musical performance is tender as Joel sings about the pain that they've gone through and how much it means to him that they still have each other — "you and I." As Joel performs, Ellie silently sheds a few tears, wiping them away slowly. As the guitar and Joel fall silent, an emotional Ellie quietly responds "That was beautiful, Joel." The tension and distance between Joel and Ellie is gone now, replaced with genuine fatherly-daughterly love. Joel thanks Ellie, stands and offers the guitar to her. Even though she says that she doesn't know how to play, Joel reminds her of his promise to "teach her how to play the guitar" gifting it to her. Ellie, touched that Joel remembered, reaches out and takes it saying, "You did." A warm silence falls and Joel begins to excuse himself. "It's getting late and we both need our rest." Joel heads for the door as Ellie falls back into her swivel chair. "What was the joke you heard the other day?" Ellie says, breaking the silence and bringing Joel to a full stop before exiting through the door. Joel turns around, and with a soft smile on his face asks, "What's the hardest part about eating clocks?" Ellie shakes her head and puts up her hands, giving up. Joel smirks and says, "It's time consuming." They both share a little laugh. "That is pretty bad," a smiling Ellie responds. "Yeah, it's one of the worst I've heard," says Joel. "Well, goodnight, Ellie." Joel walks out the door, a little slow to remove his hand from the door frame, leaving Ellie to play the guitar a bit. Washington D.C A couple weeks into living in Jackson, Ellie decided to go explore the world on her own, just turning 16. Taking her leave after telling Joel, in a lengthy argument, that she wanted to go explore on her own, she took a car and headed in a random direction she picked on the map. Her path led her to Washington D.C, arriving a couple weeks after leaving Jackson. On her journey she stayed away from people, infected, and other mishaps, knowing it's not worth it. On her journey however, after arriving near Washington D.C, she spotted a decently sized group that appeared to be in trouble. In her effort to spy on them from afar, she slipped up and fell off the building she was on and onto a dumpster underneath where she was knocked out for a couple minutes. In that time, the group she was overlooking had found her. Waking up in a car after hitting her head hard, the first thing she saw was the face of a girl her age, maybe a little older. She tried to sit up, but the girl, who introduced herself as Erin, stopped her and told her to continue resting. Ellie, being paranoid of her seeing the bite on her arm, pushed Erin off. Finding it rude, Erin told Ellie to lighten up, and that they're nice people. Ellie got to know the rest of the group Erin was part of. It was a small but stable group, ranging from ex-military to kids. Ellie was wowed by the group overall and decided to stay with them until she felt like she should go back. During her stay with them, she got to know everyone better, befriending Erin the most. In the time that they spent together, Ellie started seeing Riley in Erin, even going as far as calling Erin her best friend after only a day. On their 3rd night together, Ellie and Erin got very personal with their conversation in a game of truth or dare. Ellie spilled her secrets that night, almost unwillingly, as they conversed about Ellie's past, Riley, Boston, and even her bite. Showing Erin her bite, she first marveled at it and Ellie, touching it even, before Ellie explained how she got it and how she's somehow immune. "I don't want to find out if I can get bit again" she told her, rejecting all theories Erin had to make about her surviving getting bit again. That same night, Erin proposed an idea which echoed through Ellie's head, a tattoo to cover up the bite. The next morning, with the idea from last night still fresh in her head, she decided to go through with it. Luckily for her, Erin was an expert in stick and poke tattooing. It took almost the whole day, but the design and detail of the tattoo was exquisite. A fern and a moth, covering her bite, so that no-one would ever see it or know about it without her wanting them to. The whole time they sat together, they talked more and more, getting closer and closer, revealing their personalities more to each other. After they got done, Ellie was ecstatic about her new tattoo, flaunting it by rolling up her sleeves. Her bond with Erin grew that day as she finally decided to ask her a question that's been on her mind for the last day. "Do you... want to like... date?" she awkwardly asked Erin after they were done. A little shock later, Erin agreed with a wide smile, as the two started their relationship. In the next month, Erin and Ellie grew their relationship more and more, as well as Ellie growing her relationship with the rest of the group, helping out where she can and entertaining them with her newfound guitar skills, thanks to Joel. One day in particular, Erin and Ellie were assigned to go and scout around the neighborhood, since they have just moved into a new house. As they walked down the street of their new place, they could hear strange sounds, at first thinking they came from the shops, but when they entered the stores around, the sound still seemed distant. As they explored one of the shops, footsteps could be heard behind them as they both turned to see two huge men with guns, who smacked them, and knocked them out. Friend or Foe? Waking up in a strange place, Ellie and Erin both found themselves tied up in cages next to each other, in a damp, wet, and humid environment as their lungs were filled with the sickly sweet smell of burning flesh. Seeing their situation, they immediately planned an escape. One of the men had been standing observing them as Erin could feel her knife still in her pocket, in an effort to wiggle it out, Ellie distracted the guard, as Erin got herself free and handed the knife to Ellie, distracting the guard just as Ellie had. When they were both free, Ellie made the first move by jumping out the cell at the guard, beating him up. The loud noises drew in another guard who got on top of Ellie as the two got into a scuffle. Seeing Ellie get in a brawl ignited a fire in Erin. She stabbed the man in the back of the head with her knife, taking it out as he lay dead on the floor and stabbing him again, and again, and again. Ellie stood and watched in near shock, never seeing this side of Erin before. Erin's eyes glowed with zealousness as she stormed outside their room, to a chamber outside, which was full of other guards. Erin made quick work of killing the first one she saw, grabbing his gun and using it to start a gunfight in the chamber. The gunfight ended with Erin killing all the guards outside the main door, where both Erin and Ellie stood now. Erin yelled at whoever was behind the door to give up. Seeing the fire in her eyes, the man who had planned their captivity announced himself as Sarco, and declared that he had Erin's gun, Yamato. This inflamed Erin further, as Yamato was her heirloom gun, given to her by her father. She kicked the door open, greeted by Sarco, who shot her in the shoulder with her own gun, throwing it at her before leaving her bleeding out with Ellie, as he made his escape. Erin knelt down next to a slowly dying Erin, who was losing consciousness fast. Erin begged Ellie to grab her gun before they ran out, and Ellie followed, apologizing every step of the way for not doing anything. This felt like the mall all over again with Riley, and she loathed it. The feeling that she couldn't do anything, it hurt her. Barely leaving the chamber alive, they climbed out of a hatch, which led them back to the store they were in before they got knocked out. Ellie dragged Erin with her, as they headed back to the house. Busting the door open, Ellie placed Erin on a couch where she did her best to stop the bleeding, as she did with Joel a couple years ago at the mall. Ellie stayed at her side for most of the day afterwards, as Erin faded in and out of consciousness. At night, when everyone had fallen asleep, Ellie finally went to sleep after her eyes kept shutting, laying her head on the back of the couch, as she sat on the ground under Erin. Around this time, Megan had been in the area, as she saw the lights in the house go out. She also spotted a few men coming up to the house. She hid and watched them, as they slowly flooded the house with gas, trying to finish the job they failed earlier, killing Erin and Ellie. She waited for the men to gather together and killed them before they could leave, quickly running into the house, and grabbing everyone out as the gas slowly caught on fire as well. After getting everyone out, they moved again to a nearby hotel, as everyone questioned Megan's reasons of helping them. As they entered the hotel, Ellie stood next to Erin as she laid her down on another couch. Megan saw the worry on Ellie's face as well as the blood stain on Erin, walking over to them and offering aid. Megan sterilized Erin's wound as well as removed the bullet and stitched the hole it left. Ellie was amazed at her work, seeing how what she did before was nothing compared to this. Questioning her work, Megan revealed to Ellie that she used to be a combat medic in the military, and that she's dealt with worse. The next day, Megan decided she would go and figure out what the men were planning, after learning what they did to Erin from Ellie. Ellie decided to go with Megan, as the pair went back to the hatch, and explored the underground area. As they entered Sarco's office, they saw that the monitoring equipment he used was all disconnected and destroyed, as well as notes scattered everywhere. Ellie and Erin read through them, coming across one which struck Ellie as a slap in the face. There was a letter to Sarco from Marlene, describing Ellie in full detail as well as something about Anna. She told Megan to leave and go as far away as she could before the pair returned back to the hotel where Erin was waiting for her. She held Erin tightly as she explained how she had to leave because she endangered Erin just like Riley. After a hard exchange between the two, Erin agrees, after offering Ellie her gun. Ellie rejected it, telling her that they would "meet again" and that she shouldn't ever lose hope. Giving Erin one last kiss goodbye, Ellie ended their relationship resentfully, hoping that one day they would meet again under better circumstances. Jackson (Second Appearance) A couple of weeks after the events at Washington D.C, Ellie returned to Jackson, as they welcomed her with open arms. In the time that Ellie spends living in Tommy's settlement, she becomes acquainted with Dina, a resident of the community. Ellie and Dina's friendship develops and, along with Jesse, the three help other Jackson residents patrol the outskirts to defend against hordes of infected and any wandering marauders that could pose a threat. Category:Character